FTP your work to the web: introduction to uploading

Earlier I used the intimidating term "ftp client" to describe the class of programs that are used to move content from your computer to your website. There are lots of ftp clients that work well, such as Transmit, Filezilla, SecureFTP, etc. The ftp client we are going to use has the very un-intimidating name of Cyberduck. In spite of the funny name, Cyberduck works about as well as any other ftp client that is free, although it will occasionally quack and ask you to donate money to its creator. I’m sure he will be appreciative if you send him some. 1

1. Use spotlight to locate cyberduck and start it up. Click "New Connection" and

1.a) Select SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) as shown here:

If possible, use a ‘secure’ connection (note the dropdown box) which makes it more difficult for hackers to get your password.

1.b) Type your domain name or whatever your hosting service asked you to, into the server field;

1.c) your_username into the username field; and

1.d) your password into the password field.

1.e) Click Connect.

2. Welcome to the server, which could literally be located anywhere on the planet.Once you are connected, you should see a screen that looks like theone below. the folder named public_html is the one that will hold and 'serve' your website.

3. Double click the public_html folder to open it. Although you can also open folders from cyberduck by clicking on the arrows, I recommend against doing so. In my experience it is much easier to avoid mistakes by staying away from those tempting little arrows.

4. From your desktop computer, drag the index.html file, the images folder that contains your picture and your css folder into the public_html folder. Leave the other folders inside of mysite alone for now. They’re empty, so what’s the point?

5. Before you close Cyberduck, set a bookmark. You will upload lots of files to the server but in the future you can use your bookmark to make it easy.

6. Using your web-browser navigate to your picture at your domain name (emuelaldridge.com for example).If everything is working properly you should see your webpage and your picture.Congratulations: you are now on the Internet. Click on the picture to see yourself.

7. Copy the address of your page from the browser's address bar (something like http://your_domain_name.com ) and send it to your mom.

How to avoid sounding dumb.

Students sometimes have a tendency to say things that drive knowledgeable people crazy such as “I put the file on Cyberduck”.Cyberduck is not a place where you put things. It’s a tool, known as an ftp client, that you use to move files from your computer to another computer.Don’t fall into this trap that, frankly, makes you sound kind of dumb.Instead, say something like “I put it onto the server” or (to sound really techie) I ftp’d it to the server. Otherwise, expect to be heckled.